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I took delivery last Friday, P85, black/black, loaded. Like the rest of us, I spent an inordinate amount of time on the blogs, devouring all I could in anticipation of The Event. I really did not intend to write about my getting my car as I didn’t think more could be said.

Then I took delivery in Austin, Texas and drove it 200 miles home to Houston. Over the weekend I put another 200 miles on it and I have to say this car is, without doubt, the best money I ever spent.

More than that, this car is very seriously a bargain! My garage has in it a ’96 911 Carrera 4 and an ’08 M5. They pale in comparison. ( and will soon be sold! ) That Tesla, starting flat-footed, could bring to market a machine this revolutionary, this extraordinary, this f’in’ FAST at this price is astounding to me and a testament to Mr. Musk and his team.

Thank you Tesla! Never apologize for the price! There is nothing even close for the money… nothing.

sandman | 26 Febbraio 2013

Congratulations on your new car Docjay! Enjoy the Tesla Grin for as long as it lasts, which should be a very very long time. Just gave two newbs a test ride and they were literally speechless and laughing from the moment I hit the first turn and accelerated out until the ride was over. It's like watching kids gawk at their first rainbow. Doesn't get old.

KevinR.co.us | 26 Febbraio 2013

+1 Enjoy!

lolachampcar | 26 Febbraio 2013

and when you get a chance Docjay take a look under the skin. I think you will find the design team was a little chicken of designing too close to the edge. Everything is just a little beefier than it needs to be and just a little bit over done. For me it adds credence to your comment about getting your money's worth.

noel.smyth | 26 Febbraio 2013

Was just thinking that today. I have the car over a month now, 2500 miles or so. forget about cup holders, etc. this drive train is revolutionary. Its an amazing engineering feat. I love driving it daily. Just gave a test drive to a colleague and he was blown away. He was doing 95 when I told him and he did not realize it as it was so smooth and quite, Its the future of cars. Well done Tesla team.

LiteWait | 26 Febbraio 2013

@Docjay: Congratulations. I hope you can make it to Coffee and Cars Houston on Saturday. Last month was great. Here is a link for the address and other information:

It's funny you mention your other vehicles. I also own a Porsche 911 and a BMW X5... Close enough to M5, right? I feel the same way as you. I would like to tow the 911 to Coffee and Cars but I don't think that will happen this time. Check out my experience picking up my car:

Tradition dies hard, but when something is truly better, sooner or later people get it, and convention starts to collapse.

Not so wise to hang on to your inventory of expensive gas cars. They will depreciate more rapidly than they have historically because this is a bona fide disruptive change. People who can afford a better car won't buy the old stuff once they understand this car.

When you strip away all the bogus press hits, production scheduling snafus, and customer communication screw-ups that inevitably happen when you reach for something really, really big ... what you have here is genuine innovation of the highest order.

These guys honestly did the heavy lifting to turn the tables on gas, and have made one amazingly superior car.

As Road and Track observed, people are simply not prepared to comprehend that you can get a car with this impossible combination. It's faster than a Porsche, sports Aston-Martinesque looks, is safer than an S-Class, and costs less to fuel than a Prius. In most folks mind, that isn't possible, and it won't sink in until they have experienced it for themselves. Increasingly though, they will.

The beauty of being truly better is that it's ultimately unstoppable. It eventually trumps all the tools the status quo can marshall to resist it, and it eventually takes over.

I can't imagine buying any more of what we use to get for $100K after driving this.

Brian H | 27 Febbraio 2013

Just don't compare it (or the X) to a minivan in capacity. Teenagers everywhere will forbid their parents from buying one. >;p

lolachampcar | 27 Febbraio 2013

Mark K
I agree that MS should do well in the $100K market. I'm REALLY looking forward to Tesla's $40K car with 200 mile range. I may not be a customer for that one but it will really turn the status quo on its ear.

Carefree | 27 Febbraio 2013

We have had our P85 for three days now and I couldn't agree more with you. There is just no comparison to ANY other car. We also own a Porsche C4 and it feels so old fashioned now. The acceleration of the P85, the lack of any vibration when driving, the stylish, modern interior, the lines of the car, that HUGE touch screen - it all makes for an incredible package.

And I agree 100% this car is worth every penny we paid. I am already looking forward to the new roadster in a couple of years. No more ICE for us!

Docjay | 27 Febbraio 2013

Litewalt,

What time should I be there?

Mark K | 27 Febbraio 2013

Lolachampcar - that lower price car will indeed be the next wave of change, and open it up to a much wider swath of buyers.

For now, the closest option is the entry level S, but only if you can live with city-suited range.

The 85 though, proves where all this is headed.

christopher.wolf | 27 Febbraio 2013

I have had my P85 for just two days, and in the little time I have had to drive it I already have decided to sell my 2010 BMW M3 (which I was going to keep for "fun driving"). Nothing could be more fun to drive than this car!

info | 27 Febbraio 2013

In the late 15th century a few adventurous Europeans came to America. It was a big step. Life was at least predictable in Europe. Small colonies became bigger and wilderness turned into small colonies. Once bigger colonies existed, less adventuresome folks got on boats to come here. Gradually America became what it is today. The Tesla is the first big colony. It has completely opened up the world of EV's to people who previously wouldn't have considered them. In my normal week I usually have a 100 mile day. Not often, but sometimes, there is a 200 mile day. I wanted electric and was considering the Volt. Then Tesla came into my life and I realized that for 99% of my driving the Tesla was perfect and I might even be able to do the other 1% with a little patience and planning. Sold.

I've had my car for four weeks on Saturday. I've cancelled my subscriptions to Motor Trend, Car and Drive, AutoWeek and Automobile. I used to be interested in cars. I'm not anymore. I have a device that is better than anything and I'm willing to put up with the problems that come with it, just like the new settlers were willing to put up with the hostile Indians, low food supplies and new diseases. They were on the cutting edge. So are we.

I have two older Mercedes for sale, but I feel bad letting anybody buy them. I look at these two beautiful old cars the same way I look at my 8-track tape player. It was neat at the time, but times change. Welcome fellow Pilgrims!

Hogfighter | 27 Febbraio 2013

Mark K: Well said.

An evolution is happening, and it's fun to be a part of. Most people that I've given rides to still can't comprehend what it is, even after the ride. They just leave stunned.

They are gonna sell a million of these things.

sandman | 27 Febbraio 2013

I concur with Mark, info, and Hogfighter. But I'm not selling my replacement vehicle because it will be my rain/snow/sleet/hail ride.

reitmanr | 27 Febbraio 2013

We drive the S on the ranch, except if it's muddy. Then our old ice sacrifices itself to the mud.
The horses are a bit puzzled by this silent thing rolling up to the pasture.
Less concern though then when a noisy old ice rolls up.

We've only just begun. There will be many more Tesla grins.

LiteWait | 27 Febbraio 2013

@Docjay: I got there at 6:30 am last time but the parking lot was already starting to fill up. I would like to get there a little earlier to save spots for more Tesla owners to park together this time. 6:15 I think would be best. We are still unsure of where we will be parking. Keep checking the TMC houston thread:

I gather you live near Clear Lake. If you want to cruise up together we can meet at one of the on-ramps along 45.

dstiavnicky | 27 Febbraio 2013

Lot's of 911 owners turned MS owners... I thought the Panamera was what everyone was comparing too...

I too have recently sold my 2007 911 4 S cab to make room for the MS... maybe Telsa should use us all in a marketing campaign?

Brian H | 27 Febbraio 2013

Soundtrack: "Wanna buy a nice Panamera? This new Tesla owner has no use for his. Or how a classic Mercedes? You could start a museum! Or wow! a beautiful Tesla-discard BMW M3, collector's quality!"

lolachampcar | 27 Febbraio 2013

not driven my 550 since and really worried it will have to go :(

KevinR.co.us | 27 Febbraio 2013

This car is SO good I am selling my BMW motorcycle

lolachampcar | 27 Febbraio 2013

MS, the S1000RR of cars :)
BTW, just got my 2013 Zero DS today.. Back to electric two and four wheels.

AndrewM | 28 Febbraio 2013

It strikes me that disruptive change always takes longer than people expect to get going, but once it does it surprises everyone by having a far greater impact than they imagined. Think solar PV - we've been developing it for decades, but it's only in the last couple of years that we have a product that's begun to be truly competitive with alternative energy sources. And yet already it's disrupting energy markets in Germany, Italy and elsewhere.

Reading the feedback of those who own Model S's I am in no doubt that we are on the cusp of a hugely disruptive change. We just need to get more people experiencing these outstanding cars!

Superliner | 2 Marzo 2013

Anyone else notice that since Model S has hit the road, the proverbial "air has come out of the balloon" with regard to automotive TV ads?

Was just watching a commercial for the "All New" (as advertised) Ford Fusion, and thought WOW that thing is obsolete! They claim it to be "all new" yet at it's core it is century old technology (even in hybrid or plug in hybrid form it's decades old technology). There is "no there there" !! The only thing new about the car is it's sheet metal, and even that copies Aston Martin. All else has been around for most of my adult life.

As a result I don't even notice or care about any manufacturers TV or print media advertising as it is all just decades old rhetoric. I just don't care about ANY manufacturers ANYTHING! now that something better (Model S), has been introduced!

All ICE cars are now just dead players and merely something to bridge the gap until the needed economies of scale are reached in Electric Drive cars to make them affordable to the masses. It won't happen overnight, but I strongly feel we are looking at the beginning of the end of the ICE and Gasoline as the primary source of propulsion for "personal transportation".

Freight hauling and Semi trucks "diesel fuel" will likely live on longer as battery power would require much of the cargo carrying capability to be taken up by the weight of the battery pack. There may be fuel cell solutions?? or?? on the horizon for those applications as well.

Good Bye ICE and Gasoline and Good Riddance!!

jbunn | 2 Marzo 2013

Am moving from the country to the city next month. Went by the cop shop to drop my rusty old pellet rifle off for safe disposal. Left the gun in the frunk, went in talked to dispatch, they send an officer out to go to the car. He likes the car, has questions, I go into tour mode. He finaly asks "how fast does this go?". Now I panic. Does he mean THIS? Or THEY? Time slowed to a crawl... borrowing a line from this forum, I finaly said "have a nice day, officer.". He thought this was funny, and we resumed the tour with a "well, the manufacturer states...".

Its been an hour, and I keep laughing over this...

nickjhowe | 2 Marzo 2013

@jbunn +1

Mark E | 2 Marzo 2013

Superliner: I know what you mean. I'm a car nut but find it hard to get motivated about most of the new cars as they seem like dinosaurs after being loaned a roadster.

Unfortunately still waiting for news on RHD Model S availability or pricing.

RonaldA | 2 Marzo 2013

I can't wait to get my S I've had a roadster for two years now. Other things you don't think about so much initially us these cars stay cleaner your garage stats cleaner. There's no greese no oil no exhaust and barely any brake dust. These cars are great.